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Backstage At Yoana Baraschi Spring 2011 Presentation

On September 12th, Romanian designer Yoana Baraschi made her official New York Fashion Week debut, holding a presentation of her Spring 2011 line at The Box in Lincoln Center. What’s the difference between a presentation and a runway show, you ask? Well, presentations tend to be more informal, consisting of models posing in different set-ups (mini sets, if you will), as opposed to trotting down a catwalk. There are, of course, pluses and minuses to each. Runway shows tend to be more exciting since there’s a cleverly orchestrated, momentum-building sequence of looks, culminating in a hopefully encore-worthy finale. The backdrop, soundtrack, and lighting choices all add to the runway show’s drama and intrigue. Plus, of course, there’s a level of excitement that’s derived from the transient nature of a runway show — that is, because the audience member knows that each model will walk up and down the runway in the blink of an eye, he or she is afraid to look away, wanting to gaze upon each garment for as long as possible. But there are also drawbacks to fashion shows — aside from being costly endeavors, they tend to give audience members little opportunity to closely examine each garment, particularly those with less than stellar seats. Because presentations tend to be a bit more static, meanwhile, they do offer audience members a closer look at the detailing of each and every piece in a collection. And, since there are no seating arrangements, presentations feel way more democratic, allowing equal access to all invitees (at least in theory). For an independent or up-and-coming designer, then, a presentation tends to be a smarter choice, as guests will walk away feeling way more familiar with the artist’s workmanship and vision.

In the case of Yoana Baraschi’s Spring 2011 presentation, guests were treated to a fun set-up involving four themes: nautical, safari, garden party, and Bohemian-flavored summer whites. The pieces in each set-up corresponded to the overall theme so that the “white” set-up, for example, included a cream drop-waist dress with a feather fringe skirt, while the “nautical”set-up included such looks as a fitted navy blazer with white polka dots paired with a white, calf-length skirt with horizontal, navy blue stripes. Influenced by the ’70s, the collection was styled to exude a playful, free-spirited, retro femininity — that means pillbox hats with dainty veils, sheer white ankle socks paired with brown or white wedged platforms, floppy straw hats, gold necklaces with leaf charms, and other funky bits,

Lead makeup artist Diane Kendal described the inspiration for the makeup look as Kate Moss meets Gena Rowlands in Opening Night. Soft smoky eyes were key in recalling the chic ease of the ’70s. Kendal applied a hint of iridescent white color to the inner corners of eyes, blending it with a soft gray shadow as she worked her way outward, contouring the eyes with a darker gray applied along the outward half of the crease region and stretched out to create a pointed, almost wing-like shape. A touch of liner finished the look, but no mascara was applied (Kendal explained that mascara can often have an aging effect). Little makeup was applied to the models’ complexions — just a hint of peachy blush to make them appear healthy and vibrant. Lastly, foundation and a reddish rust brown gloss were mixed together to give lips a hint of matte color. In terms of products, Kendal and her team used products from an array of cosmetics brands — mainly Kryolan, Bobbi Brown, and MAC Cosmetics.

The Redken/Cutler hair team, meanwhile, creates a very soft look consisting of romantic, cascading waves. To get the look, stylists blow-dried models’ hair straight, applying Cutler Volumizing Spray, then curled hair using curling irons with 1 1/4″ and 1.5″ barrels. Next, they applied Cutler Definition Cream and, using brushes with very few bristles and their own fingers, they tousled the waves to give them more texture and to separate the curly strands, softening them while doing so for an undone effect. Last, they applied Redken Workforce 09 to give the look hold and shine.